Compare convolutions and transformers

Q: Compare convolutions and transformers

This is a Machine Learning interview question from Snapchat for Machine Learning Engineer roles. View the full question and solution on PracHub.

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Question

Compare CNNs and Transformers

Task

Explain the key differences between convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and transformer architectures. Specifically compare:

Inductive biases
Data and compute requirements
Handling of long-range dependencies
Typical applications in vision and NLP
Modern hybrid approaches and how they address limitations

Assume the reader is a machine learning engineer evaluating architectures under common product constraints (limited data, latency budgets, and varying sequence/image sizes).

Compare convolutions and transformers

Compare CNNs and Transformers

Task

Solution (Locked)

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